The mother and baby conceived just a year apart
Couple ‘adopt’ embryo frozen in 1992
BOTH conceived about a quarter of a century ago, Tina and Emma Wren Gibson could have grown up as best friends.
But in fact, thanks to a frozen embryo ‘world record’, the pair are instead mother and daughter.
And while new mother Tina is 26 years old, today Emma is aged just 26 days.
The embryo was placed into cryogenic freezing 25 years ago after being donated to a US clinic for use by a couple who had problems conceiving.
Ms Gibson, from Tennessee, said: ‘Do you realise that I’m 26 years old?
‘If the baby was born when it was supposed to be born, we could have been best friends.’
Her husband Benjamin Gibson, 33, has cystic fibrosis, which can make men infertile. The couple did not think they could have children naturally.
‘I think it’s a gift from the Lord’
The Gibsons, who have fostered children, decided to look into embryo adoption after it was mentioned by Ms Gibson’s father.
They filled out an application with the National Embryo Donation Centre in the US, and they chose the embryo from 300 donor profiles.
The embryo, which had been frozen on October 14, 1992, was thawed on March 13 this year and implanted into Ms Gibson. It ‘worked out perfectly’ first time, she said.
It was only when the Gibsons were preparing for the transfer that a doctor told them they believed it could be the longestfrozen embryo to result in a successful birth, although the way US records are kept means it is impossible to verify.
Ms Gibson said: ‘We wanted to adopt, and I don’t know that that isn’t going to be in our future. We may still adopt. This just ended up being the route that we took. I think that we would have been equally elated if we were able to adopt.
‘People say, “Oh it’s science,” but I think it’s a gift from the Lord.’
Children born in this way are often referred to as ‘snowbabies’ because they have been frozen – sometimes for years – before they are born.
Mr Gibson said: ‘Emma is such a sweet miracle. I think she looks pretty perfect to have been frozen all those years ago. As soon as she came out, I fell in love with her.’ The Gibsons paid $12,500 (€10,500) for the procedure – and said that they would not rule out doing the same again with two other embryos from the same donors, who have not been identified.
Ms Gibson said: ‘After having natural childbirth, I’m like, “I’m never doing that again!” But I’m sure in like a year, I’ll be like, “I want to try for another baby”.’
The National Embryo Donation Centre, which is in Knoxville, Tennessee, said that according to its files, the Gibsons hold the record for the longest-frozen embryo to come to birth. A spokesman said: ‘As far as we can tell, nobody has claimed an older one’.
Dr David Adamson, chief executive of leading clinic Arc Fertility, in San Jose, California, said: ‘I think it is probably fair to say if it is not the oldest, it would be among the oldest.
‘I’m not personally aware of a medical report where an older embryo has resulted in a live birth’.
The first human embryos were successfully frozen in 1984.